AES (NYSE:AES) Hits New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $10.69 and last traded at $10.60, with a volume of 328396 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. HSBC began coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AES presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.80.

AES Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The business’s fifty day moving average is $12.55 and its 200 day moving average is $15.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.99.

AES (NYSE:AES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The AES Co. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

AES Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.176 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.75%. This is a positive change from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AES’s payout ratio is currently 48.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AES

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AES. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new position in AES during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of AES by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of AES during the 3rd quarter worth $63,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new position in shares of AES during the 3rd quarter worth $74,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of AES by 69.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

AES Company Profile

The AES Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified power generation and utility company in the United States and internationally. The company owns and/or operates power plants to generate and sell power to customers, such as utilities, industrial users, and other intermediaries; owns and/or operates utilities to generate or purchase, distribute, transmit, and sell electricity to end-user customers in the residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental sectors; and generates and sells electricity on the wholesale market.